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African American History Initiative Manager
African American History Initiative ManagerROME GROUP • Saint Louis, MO, US
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African American History Initiative Manager

African American History Initiative Manager

ROME GROUP • Saint Louis, MO, US
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Overview

COMMITMENT TO RACIAL EQUITY

The Missouri Historical Society commits to a process of listening attentively to one another and leveraging best practices and resources across our organization to promote a culture of inclusion where individuals from all racial and ethnic identities; ages; nationalities; social and economic statuses; sexual orientations; gender identities / expressions; religious, political, and ideological perspectives; and abilities are able to be engaged, feel valued, and thrive. The full Commitment to Racial Equity is described by the organization.

Description

The Missouri Historical Society is one of the oldest and biggest historical societies in the country. It was founded in 1866 with the intent of "saving from oblivion" the history of St. Louis. Since its beginning, MHS has collected and shared important moments in Black history – with its 1880s commission of a portrait of Dred Scott being one of the earliest examples.

Over the years, MHS has increased its efforts to share Black history and has often been a hub for community discussions and research. Since 2017, those efforts have been fueled by the African American History initiative, an initiative designed to collect more Black history, share more Black history, and to train historians to tell more Black history.

MHS is committed to telling a full story of St. Louis, and that story would be incomplete without the contributions of Black St. Louisans. In the coming years we have planned major exhibits about Mill Creek Valley, one of the largest urban renewal projects in American history, and about The Ville Neighborhood, one of the most historically significant Black neighborhoods in the country. We will also share Black history through a wide variety of exhibits focused on everything from baseball to food history. We will continue to grow our Black history collections – including through a major effort to document the May tornado that hit hardest St. Louis' Black community. And we will continue to present a wide variety of programs that document St. Louis' rich, proud, and joyful Black history.

MHS is excited to find new ways to share the history of St. Louis and to grow and expand its audiences.

Position Summary :

The African American History Initiative (AAHI) Manager is a creative, passionate, and inspiring leader who serves as the primary spokesperson for the initiative, who works closely with community partners, who coordinates communication between members of the AAHI team who are housed in departments across the institution, and who oversees AAHI's efforts to develop future museum professionals through an extensive internship program.

AAHI strives to share and promote stories that explore various aspects of the Black experience throughout this region. In addition to the core values of the Missouri Historical Society (MHS), this initiative supports the collection of artifacts, stories, and other materials concerning historically underrepresented communities; the development of future museum professionals; and the preservation and sharing of Black resources and history in the greater St. Louis area. Reflecting the goals and priorities of our community, AAHI's mission is to develop inclusive exhibits and programs that educate, empower, and enlighten our visitors. This position also serves as the point person to manage and implement the cross-divisional African American History Endowment. The African American History Initiative includes four staff who work primarily on AAHI duties, a core group of internal staff who provide direction and support, and an external advisory group that will provide community input on the direction of the initiative. The AAHI Manager coordinates with the other three AAHI staff and the internal and external advisory groups. This position reports to the MHS President and CEO.

The key roles of this position are coordination, communication, and collaboration :

Coordination

  • Coordinate internal meetings that pull together various stakeholders
  • Coordinate an external advisory board
  • Coordinate calendars to make sure that AAHI projects are visible throughout the year and that AAHI team members are connected to projects happening across the institution
  • Coordinate the AAHI internship program

Communication

  • Communicate the work of the initiative internally to staff, volunteers, and board members
  • Communicate the work of the initiative as a whole externally

    • Collaboration

  • Collaborate with community partners to make sure we have a presence at community events and discussions
  • Collaborate with donors to ensure AAHI has the financial support that it needs

    • Duties / Responsibilities :

  • Acts as an ambassador of institutional mission, vision, and goals in all public programming and community engagement efforts
  • Acts as the point person to manage initiatives within the components and stated objectives of the African American History Endowment, including consolidating and tracking goals throughout the entire institution on an ongoing basis
  • Prioritizes outreach opportunities for AAHI to be represented at community events and regularly tables at those events
  • Recruits and hires interns for robust summer internships and looks for opportunities to grow our internship program
  • Participates in events, opportunities, and speaking engagements that are priorities for MHS
  • Serves as the primary spokesperson for AAHI efforts overall, including external and internal communication as well as media interviews and staff presentations
  • Assists the President's Office with communication and messaging related to AAHI
  • Identifies opportunities to collaborate with community groups and helps build relationships with other nonprofit organizations
  • In partnership with the AAHI Programming Specialist, ensures that MHS programs reflect St. Louis' diversity of complexities, connect the past and present, and are relevant to different viewpoints
  • In partnership with the AAHI Public Historian, identifies compelling St. Louis history stories to tell
  • Creates ways to help visitors understand their changing communities by challenging them to think critically about core issues such as diversity and empathy, justice and equity, transportation, environment, stable housing, and cityscape
  • Collaborates with the curator of Urban Landscape and Community Identity to identify acquisition opportunities for oral histories, archival materials, and artifacts and helps promote this collecting initiative through programs and public outreach
  • Works with the Philanthropy team to create ways to incorporate members-only program components and encourage the growth of membership at community events and programs
  • Works with the MHS President and Philanthropy team to identify and solicit funds to help support and expand AAHI efforts
  • Creates and leads a community advisory board that will help to inform our work
  • Leads AAHI team meetings, including larger institutional meetings and a smaller work group meetings
  • Coordinates communication among AAHI team members who work in departments throughout the institution

    • Skills :

  • Ability to work well with volunteers to achieve programming goals
  • Experience collaborating with community groups for events and to help share their history via programming
  • Knowledge of research methods in marginalized history and sharing those stories with underrepresented and diverse communities
  • Firm understanding of Microsoft Office suite, especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
  • Solid written and oral communication skills
  • Budget development and management experience, including management of grant funding or other restricted funding
  • Ability to work with a team to achieve department and institution-wide strategic goals
  • Aptitude for multitasking and working well under tight deadlines
  • Demonstrated ability to develop productive relationships with community leaders and groups
  • Ability to effectively communicate with individuals and organizations from diverse communities and backgrounds to achieve mutual goals
  • Knowledge of historic and emerging issues in the St. Louis region and / or willingness to learn
  • Ability to work as a member of a team to achieve department and museum-wide strategic goals

    • Education and Experience :

  • Master's degree, preferably in history, social studies, American studies, African American studies, urban studies, museum studies, or a related field
  • Minimum of 2 to 3 years of experience, preferably in a nonprofit museum setting

    • Other : Some weeknight and weekend work required

    All other duties as assigned

    Deadline to Apply : Open until filled.

    Please upload cover letter and resume when applying.

  • External job boards : Please click this link, to apply.

    • An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer

    Services Provided On A Non-Discriminatory Basis

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    History • Saint Louis, MO, US